Day 9 - Birchenough Bridge, Great Zimbabwe, and Masvingo UCCZ

Updated: Aug 3

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Tuesday morning, we were greeted by Silence and a new kombi! This was a much larger van (22 passenger v. 14 passenger) with more room to spread out a bit.

After breakfast at the hotel, the delegation left in the bigger van — first stopping to see the Birchenough Bridge in daylight— then headed for Masvingo.

📸 S. Westergren

Before meeting our new hosts at the Masvingo UCCZ church, we visited Great Zimbabwe.

The property, built between 1100 and 1450 AD, extends over almost 800 ha and is divided into three groups: the Hill Ruins, the Great Enclosure and the Valley Ruins. —Click here to learn more

The Hill Complex — We all hiked to the top!

📸 S. Westergren

FACT: Zimbabwe means “the big stone house”. The country is named for these ancient ruins.

The delegation at the top of the Hill Complex overlooking the village below and the Great Enclosure.

We had an excellent tour guide, named Giff, and he taught us so much about the ecosystem that existed within Great Zimbabwe. We saw lots of baboons and he explained that they live on top of the Hill Complex but come down to the bottom each day to hunt for food (chickens being one of those foods).

FACT: Baboons fight for food but help each other solve problems

He also explained that, when you see baboons, it tells you a lot about what your animals may be in the area. Where there are baboons, there are leopards and, where there are leopards, there are also wild dogs and hyenas. Thank goodness we did NOT see any leopards!

FACT: Leopards eat baboons — once a leopard kills something it drags the body up a tree to eat it and avoid competition with other leopards.

Next we visited the Valley Ruins and the Great Enclosure. The Valley Ruins were thought to be the homes of the king’s “Junior wives”. It is believed the king has as many as 200 wives! The Great Enclosure is the largest single ancient structure in sub-Saharan Africa. It is thought to have either served as a royal residence or a grain storage facility. Our guide said it is likely this is where the king lived most often with his first wife.

The Great Enclosure is a walled, circular area below the Hill Complex dating to the 14th century. The walls are over 9.7 meters (32 feet) high in places, and the enclosure’s circumference is 250 meters (820 feet). The walls were built without mortar, relying on carefully shaped rocks to hold the wall’s shape on their own. — Click here to learn more!

Part of the delegation inside the Great Enclosure at the start of an entry passage to the center.

The tour of the Great Zimbabwe site concluded with a visit to a recreated Shona village. It was said that the king’s many wives and children lived in villages like these.

Part of the delegation inside a large cooking hut in the Shona village re-creation.

📸 S. Westergren

We left Great Zimbabwe around 5:00 PM to head to the Masvingo UCCZ church. There was a lovely evening service during which, after self-introductions, members of the delegation were given gifts to show the members’ appreciation for us coming to learn from and share with them. After fellowship and a delicious meal, the delegation went to their host homes for the evening.